AFAI understand you want to use an array:
read -r -a names
Example:
read -r -a names <<< "John Marry Sanford Saunders"
echo "${names[0]}" # John
echo "${names[1]}" # Marry
echo "${names[2]}" # Sanford
echo "${names[3]}" # Saunders
AFAI understand you want to use an array:
read -r -a names
Example:
read -r -a names <<< "John Marry Sanford Saunders"
echo "${names[0]}" # John
echo "${names[1]}" # Marry
echo "${names[2]}" # Sanford
echo "${names[3]}" # Saunders