use File::Basename;
use Data::Dumper;

my @oldlist = qw X /etc/passwd /etc/group /egg/drop /etc/shadow X;
my @newlist = map {basename $_} @oldlist;

print Dumper \@newlist;

##</code><code>##

$VAR1 = [
          'passwd',
          'group',
          'drop',
          'shadow'
        ];