A regex is best suited to altering the array in place s/(\w)(\w*)/\U$1\E$2/ for @array; You can use a regex, but to make a new array with initial caps, ucfirst is handier, my @arrayl = map {ucfirst} @array; The regex can also be applied to a string with the /g flag

$_ = 'foo bar foobar barfoo 1 2 3';
s/(\w)(\w*)/\U$1\E$2/g;
print;
# Foo Bar Foobar Barfoo 1 2 3
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