Assume my neighbor and my cat are both named Smokey. If I say “You won’t believe what Smokey did”, and someone replies with “Which Smokey?” it would be perfectly acceptable to say “Smokey the bear” or “Smokey the cat” or “Smokey the neighbor”. In fact, it would be correct to call any of them by their Smokey the XX name at any time. Smokey Bear and Smokey the bear are both correct.
Newton’s Cradle