my %names = ( abe => { lincoln => [ 'Cheddar', 'Cheddar', ], }, george => { washington => [ 'Gay', 'Gay', ], }, ); for my $key ( keys %names ) { for my $key2 ( keys $names{$key} ) { if ( $names{$key}{$key2}[0] eq 'Gay' ) { print "Last Name:" . $names{$key}{$key2}[1] . "\n"; } } } __END__ Last Name:Gay