What's the error you're getting? That code worked fine for me (2.7.2)

    >>> import itertools
    >>> name_generator = itertools.imap("name-{}".format,itertools.count())
    >>> new_name = next(name_generator)
    >>> new_name
    'name-0'
    >>> new_name = next(name_generator)
    >>> new_name
    'name-1'