if ($choice eq 'a'){ print "Enter a male name: "; chomp (my $name1 = ucfirst lc ); if (exists $son_father{$name1}) { print "Duplicate name -- try again!\n"; } else { print "Add a father: "; chomp (my $add_dad = ucfirst lc ); $son_father{$name1} = {$add_dad}; next; } }