The following is a kludge but it works. I'm sure that someone can offer a more straightforward solution.
The first task is to get a list of the layer names you want to create. To do this you can give the -layer command followed by ? then *
For example, if your drawing contains layers layer1 through layer5 the result would look like this.

Let's say that you would like to create new layers named "LayerNew1" though "LayerNew5".
Select and copy to the clipboard the 5 lines containing the layer properties and paste them into MS Word or Notepad++. Use the Replace function to make your changes to the layer names. For exaple, replace "er" with "erNew". Now position the cursor before the quote mark " of the first line and hold down the Alt key. Then drag down selecting just the names of the layers you want to duplicate. Holding down the Alt key enables the partial selection of a row. Use Ctrl-C to copy the selected text to the clipboard.

In AutoCAD type the follwing and then give Ctrl_V to paste the names for the new layers.
(setq a (list
Finish this step with two closing parantheses )).
Now run the lisp program MakeLayers
(defun c:MakeLayers (/ n i)
(setq n (length a)
i 0
)
(while (< i n)
(command "-layer" "m" (nth i a) "")
(setq i (+ i 1))
)
(princ)
)
Enjoy!
lee.minardi