You could do this with a script.
Save this code as "01-duplicateLayerPreserveName.jsx" in your Scripts folder. (The number is important to force it to the top of the list, alphabetically, so we can assign a keyboard shortcut to it later.)
// duplicate selected layers and rename dupes to match originals exactly
app.beginUndoGroup("Duplicate selected layers and preserve exact names");
if (app.project.activeItem instanceof CompItem) {
var renamedLayerCount = 0;
for (var i = 0; i < app.project.activeItem.selectedLayers.length; i++) {
try {
var originalLayer = app.project.activeItem.selectedLayers[i];
var newLayer = originalLayer.duplicate();
newLayer.name = originalLayer.name;
renamedLayerCount++;
} catch (err) {};
}
writeLn("Renamed " + renamedLayerCount + " layer(s).");
}
app.endUndoGroup();
Reload Ae, then Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts. Search the command list for "script" and find the "01-duplicateLayerPreserveName" entry. Assign it a keyboard shortcut, and then you can easily rename layers without incrementing their names. (Note that this can cause unexpected results if you're using expressions that refer to layers by name!)
Walter Soyka
Designer & Mad Scientist at
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Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
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