if ($var =~ /^[qw(Smith Jones Schmidtz)]/)

##</code><code>##

my @names = qw(Smith Jones Schmidtz);
my $pattern = join '|', @names;

if ($var =~ /^(?:$pattern)/)

# or quicker
if ($var =~ /^Smith/ || $var =~ /^Jones/ || $var =~ /^Schmidtz/)