TIME was, they named a sandwich or a turnpike rest stop after you when you got famous.

Sign of the new times? “American Idol” heart-throb Clay Aiken is getting a credit card named after him.

Actually, it’s a debit card, aimed at young people who can’t get – or can’t yet be trusted with – a credit card.

The card was issued last week by an affiliate of Mastercard called MYplash – an apparent acronym for “my plastic cash.”

“The difference between MYplash and a normal bankcard is that MYplash has your son’s/daughter’s favorite recording artist on it,” according to the company’s Web site yesterday.

Fan sites were filled with news of the new card over the weekend.

Aiken, runner-up in the second edition of “Idol,” went on to become the show’s biggest-selling singer with his debut album in 2003.

His positive image and bubble-gum-sweet songs created a huge group of Aiken fans – called “Claymates” by MTV – who travel all over country to attend his concerts.

He appeared earlier this month on the “Dr. Phil” show to reveal how he’d been badly bullied as a high school student and how he learned to overcome it.

Clay is set to begin recording a new album next month and start a summer tour shortly after.