my @names = qw{ Tom Mary Nat Luke };

##</code><code>##

foreach my $idx ( 0 .. $#names ) {
    $people{$names[$idx]} = {
       number => $idx,
       numbx2 => $idx * 2,
       };
}

##</code><code>##

foreach my $name ( @names ) {
    $people{$name} = { this => q{that} };
}