use Data::Dumper;
my %WORD = 
('AALIYAH', 'AARON', 'ABBE' , 'ABBEY', 'ABBI', 'ABBIE', 'ABBIGAIL', 'ALEX');
print Dumper(\%WORD);

__DATA__
$VAR1 = {
          'ABBI' => 'ABBIE',
          'ABBIGAIL' => 'ALEX',
          'AALIYAH' => 'AARON',
          'ABBE' => 'ABBEY'
        };

##</code><code>##

my @names = ('AALIYAH', 'AARON', 'ABBE' , 'ABBEY', 'ABBI', 'ABBIE', 'ABBIGAIL', 'ALEX');
my %WORD;
@WORD{@names} = ();
...