diff --git a/pytools/__init__.py b/pytools/__init__.py
index 04215a2608565150850d06bb450e681cc4c06007..4fb237df8a700625cdaeef0948f7622fc08bba4a 100644
--- a/pytools/__init__.py
+++ b/pytools/__init__.py
@@ -1610,7 +1610,7 @@ def match_precision(dtype, dtype_to_match):
 
 # {{{ unique name generation
 
-def generate_unique_possibilities(prefix):
+def generate_unique_names(prefix):
     yield prefix
 
     try_num = 0
@@ -1618,6 +1618,9 @@ def generate_unique_possibilities(prefix):
         yield "%s_%d" % (prefix, try_num)
         try_num += 1
 
+generate_unique_possibilities = MovedFunctionDeprecationWrapper(
+        generate_unique_names)
+
 
 class UniqueNameGenerator:
     def __init__(self, existing_names=set(), forced_prefix=""):
@@ -1642,7 +1645,7 @@ class UniqueNameGenerator:
     def __call__(self, based_on="id"):
         based_on = self.forced_prefix + based_on
 
-        for var_name in generate_unique_possibilities(based_on):
+        for var_name in generate_unique_names(based_on):
             if not self.is_name_conflicting(var_name):
                 break