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use strict;
use warnings;
use Data::Dumper ();
my $name = "SMITH-JONES";
my @temp = split(/(-| )/,$name);
print Data::Dumper::Dumper(\@temp);
$name = "SMITH JONES";
@temp = split(/(-| )/,$name);
print Data::Dumper::Dumper(\@temp);
[download]

Output:

$VAR1 = [
          'SMITH',
          '-',
          'JONES'
        ];
$VAR1 = [
          'SMITH',
          ' ',
          'JONES'
        ];
[download]

Seems to work, are you sure you have an actual space on the RHS of the |?

Also, seems like you could be kind to your computer and not save the capture results:

my @temp = split(/(?:-| )/,$name);
[download]

Final suggestion is to use the exact same regex in the if as you do in the split.

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