... or use Class::Struct;

package record;
use Data::Dumper;
use Class::Struct;
my $i = 0;

struct( 
      
    first_name     => '$', 
    last_name      => '$',
    ssn        => '$',
    nicknames    => '@',
 );
 
my $person = new record;

$person->first_name("John");
$person->last_name("Doe");
$person->ssn("123-45-6789");

my @nicks = qw( jester ice-man maverick );

$person->nicknames($i++,$_) for @nicks;

print Dumper(\$person);

print "@{$person->nicknames}";
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lots of ways to do it.. cause hey, it's Perl :-) JamesNC