diff --git a/src/lib/CMakeLists.txt b/src/lib/CMakeLists.txt
--- a/src/lib/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/lib/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -71,6 +71,7 @@
     io/kprocess.cpp
     io/kbackup.cpp
     io/kurlmimedata.cpp
+    io/kfileutils.cpp
     jobs/kcompositejob.cpp
     jobs/kjob.cpp
     jobs/kjobtrackerinterface.cpp
@@ -161,6 +162,7 @@
         KBackup
         KUrlMimeData
         KFileSystemType
+        KFileUtils
     RELATIVE io
     REQUIRED_HEADERS KCoreAddons_HEADERS
 )
diff --git a/src/lib/io/kfileutils.h b/src/lib/io/kfileutils.h
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/io/kfileutils.h
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+/* This file is part of the KDE libraries
+   Copyright (C) 2019 Nicolas Fella <nicolas.fella@gmx.de>
+
+   This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+   modify it under the terms of the GNU Library General Public
+   License version 2 as published by the Free Software Foundation.
+
+   This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+   but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+   MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+   Library General Public License for more details.
+
+   You should have received a copy of the GNU Library General Public License
+   along with this library; see the file COPYING.LIB.  If not, write to
+   the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor,
+   Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA.
+*/
+#ifndef KFILEUTILS_H
+#define KFILEUTILS_H
+
+#include "kcoreaddons_export.h"
+
+#include <QString>
+#include <QUrl>
+
+/**
+ * @short A namespace for KFileUtils globals
+ *
+ */
+namespace KFileUtils
+{
+
+/**
+ * Given a directory path and a filename (which usually exists already),
+ * this function returns a suggested name for a file that doesn't exist
+ * in that directory. The existence is only checked for local urls though.
+ * The suggested file name is of the form "foo 1", "foo 2" etc.
+ * @since 5.61
+ */
+KCOREADDONS_EXPORT QString suggestName(const QUrl &baseURL, const QString &oldName);
+
+}
+#endif
diff --git a/src/lib/io/kfileutils.cpp b/src/lib/io/kfileutils.cpp
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/io/kfileutils.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+/* This file is part of the KDE libraries
+   Copyright (C) 2019 Nicolas Fella <nicolas.fella@gmx.de>
+
+   This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+   modify it under the terms of the GNU Library General Public
+   License version 2 as published by the Free Software Foundation.
+
+   This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+   but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+   MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+   Library General Public License for more details.
+
+   You should have received a copy of the GNU Library General Public License
+   along with this library; see the file COPYING.LIB.  If not, write to
+   the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor,
+   Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA.
+*/
+
+#include "kfileutils.h"
+
+#include <QMimeDatabase>
+#include <QFileInfo>
+
+QString KFileUtils::suggestName(const QUrl &baseURL, const QString &oldName)
+{
+    QString basename;
+
+    // Extract the original file extension from the filename
+    QMimeDatabase db;
+    QString nameSuffix = db.suffixForFileName(oldName);
+
+    if (oldName.lastIndexOf(QLatin1Char('.')) == 0) {
+        basename = QStringLiteral(".");
+        nameSuffix = oldName;
+    } else if (nameSuffix.isEmpty()) {
+        const int lastDot = oldName.lastIndexOf(QLatin1Char('.'));
+        if (lastDot == -1) {
+            basename = oldName;
+        } else {
+            basename = oldName.left(lastDot);
+            nameSuffix = oldName.mid(lastDot);
+        }
+    } else {
+        nameSuffix.prepend(QLatin1Char('.'));
+        basename = oldName.left(oldName.length() - nameSuffix.length());
+    }
+
+    // check if (number) exists from the end of the oldName and increment that number
+    QRegExp numSearch(QStringLiteral("\\(\\d+\\)"));
+    int start = numSearch.lastIndexIn(oldName);
+    if (start != -1) {
+        QString numAsStr = numSearch.cap(0);
+        QString number = QString::number(numAsStr.midRef(1, numAsStr.size() - 2).toInt() + 1);
+        basename = basename.leftRef(start) + QLatin1Char('(') + number + QLatin1Char(')');
+    } else {
+        // number does not exist, so just append " (1)" to filename
+        basename += QLatin1String(" (1)");
+    }
+    const QString suggestedName = basename + nameSuffix;
+
+    // Check if suggested name already exists
+    bool exists = false;
+
+    // TODO: network transparency. However, using NetAccess from a modal dialog
+    // could be a problem, no? (given that it uses a modal widget itself....)
+    if (baseURL.isLocalFile()) {
+        exists = QFileInfo::exists(baseURL.toLocalFile() + QLatin1Char('/') + suggestedName);
+    }
+
+    if (!exists) {
+        return suggestedName;
+    } else { // already exists -> recurse
+        return suggestName(baseURL, suggestedName);
+    }
+}