# I have
my ($fn, $ln, $age) = qw(Joe McCarty 89);

# I want
my %crazyperson = ( 'fn' => 'Joe', 'ln' => 'McCarty', 'age => 89);

##</code><code>##

my %crazyperson;
@crazyperson{'fn', 'Joe', 'ln'} = qw/Joe McCarty 89/;

##</code><code>##

$name = "Ted";
while ( my $line = <DATA> ) {
    chomp $line;
    my ( $symbol, $value ) = split /,/, $line;
    ${$symbol} = $value;
}
print $name, "\n";
__DATA__
name,Frank
__OUTPUT__
Frank