A hash cannot have two keys.

However, you can combine values together to create a single key: 

$var{$firstname . $middlename} = ...

[download]

Or you can have a multi-dimensional hash: 

$var{$firstname}{$middlename} = ...

[download]

But neither of those addresses the issue of collisions; you already stated that many records have the same first name, but can you guarantee that firstname + middlename is unique? Are you sure?

Typically in databases of the sort you're describing, the hash key is forced to be unique. Something like an "id number" or something. Then you can store data about the person without worrying about hash collisions.

Really, the question is, what do you want to do with the data that you have? Why are you storing it, and what will you do with it after you store it?

In reply to Re: question on Hashes by markkawika
in thread question on Hashes by kayj

Title:
Use:  <p> text here (a paragraph) </p>
and:  <code> code here </code>
to format your post, it's "PerlMonks-approved HTML":


  • Posts are HTML formatted. Put <p> </p> tags around your paragraphs. Put <code> </code> tags around your code and data!
  • Titles consisting of a single word are discouraged, and in most cases are disallowed outright.
  • Read Where should I post X? if you're not absolutely sure you're posting in the right place.
  • Please read these before you post! —
  • Posts may use any of the Perl Monks Approved HTML tags:
    a, abbr, b, big, blockquote, br, caption, center, col, colgroup, dd, del, details, div, dl, dt, em, font, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, hr, i, ins, li, ol, p, pre, readmore, small, span, spoiler, strike, strong, sub, summary, sup, table, tbody, td, tfoot, th, thead, tr, tt, u, ul, wbr
  • You may need to use entities for some characters, as follows. (Exception: Within code tags, you can put the characters literally.)
            For:     Use:
    & &amp;
    < &lt;
    > &gt;
    [ &#91;
    ] &#93;
  • Link using PerlMonks shortcuts! What shortcuts can I use for linking?
  • See Writeup Formatting Tips and other pages linked from there for more info.