In the Noah's Ark story, eight people are traditionally said to have survived aboard the ark.
The total comes from Noah, his wife, their three sons, and the wives of those three sons. Genesis names Shem, Ham, and Japheth, but it does not name Noah's wife or the three daughters-in-law in the Flood account. Together, the household forms the human group preserved through the catastrophe.
The number is also stated in the New Testament. First Peter refers to “eight souls” being saved through water, reinforcing the traditional count associated with the Genesis narrative. This later reference is one reason the number eight is familiar in Christian discussions of the Ark.
The number of people should not be confused with the number of animals. Genesis gives separate instructions about animals, and translations differ in how they render the categories and quantities. The human total is comparatively straightforward because it follows the family structure described in the text.