The name 'Shui' means to glean excellent poems that had not been selected in the previous imperial collections, and by definition, while many poets from Kokin wakashu including KI no Tsurayuki (107) were selected again, poets from Manyo shu (Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves) such as KAKINOMOTO Hitomaro (104) were re-evaluated, and poems by ONAKATOMI no Yoshinobu (59), KIYOHARA no Motosuke (48) and TAIRA no Kanemori (39) from Gosen wakashu era were added.
「拾遺」の名義は前代の勅撰集に漏れた秀歌を拾い集める意で、その名の通り、この集では紀貫之（107首）をはじめとする古今歌人が引き続き多数入集する一方、柿本人麻呂（104首）ら万葉集歌人が再評価され、大中臣能宣（59首）・清原元輔（48首）・平兼盛（39首）ら後撰集時代の歌人の作が新たに補われた。