The naming convention of the four books of Esdras differs between church traditions, and has changed over time.
[3] When the Council of Carthage (397) and Synod of Hippo (393), under the influence of Augustine of Hippo, determined that only 'two books of Ezra' were to be considered canonical, it was both Ezra–Nehemiah and 1 Esdras which were stated as being included in scripture, while 2 Esdras was being excluded.
[6]: 11–12 [7] Jerome however, in his new Vulgate translation of the Old Testament directly from the Hebrew of the early 5th century BCE affirmed in his prologue to Ezra that there was only one canonical book of that title, corresponding to Hebrew Ezra–Nehemiah, while the "third and fourth books" of Ezra were apocryphal;[8] and in all early manuscripts of the Vulgate (as with the 7th century CE Codex Amiatinus) this book is presented without division, and 1 Esdras and 2 Esdras are omitted.
Greek Esdras or 1 Esdras (line 3 of the table above) is the version of Ezra most commonly cited as scripture by early Christians,[11] and consequently was included in the Old Testament in late 4th century CE Greek and Latin canon lists before Jerome; but with the increasing dominance of Jerome's Vulgate translation it dropped out of use in the West; although from the 13th century, it was commonly reintroduced under the title 3 Esdras.
This Latin text of 3 Esdras is found in later medieval Vulgate manuscripts and the Sixto-Clementine Vulgate, and is however a completely different (and likely earlier) translation of Greek Esdras A from that found in the Old Latin, as witnessed in the Codex Colbertinus.
[12] The Douay–Rheims version followed the Clementine Vulgate title, while Protestant English versions chose a separate numbering for apocryphal books and called it 1 Esdras (using the Greek form to differentiate the apocryphal book from the canonical Ezra).
[13] Due to its apocalyptic content, the book (specifically as referring to chapters 3-14) has also been called Esdras the Prophet, Apocalyptic Esdras or The Jewish Apocalypse of Ezra.