Max Sequential Numbering.

Hi all,

I can't find a solution to stop max renaming object copies, so I was trying to record a macro where I would clone an object and delete the 4 last characters. Although the macro recorder doesn't copy the renaming operation.
Does anyone know how to stop Max sequentially numbering the objects, or help with a script to clone instances, references, or unique objects without changing the name of the new object?
Thanks in advance.

David