mute@clt:~/temp$ cat sample.txt
first_name last_name street1 city state zip
neutron scott 123 e main st ca 90210
mute@clt:~/temp$ ./headers
declare -a field_names='([0]="first_name" [1]="last_name" [2]="street1" [3]="city" [4]="state" [5]="zip")'
mute@clt:~/temp$ cat headers
#!/bin/bash
IFS=$'\t' read -ra field_names < <(head -1 sample.txt)
declare -p field_names