The name might also begin with W or £. Both letters are pronounced similarily to the English labio-velar w, only they're purely labial (= formed with the lips) and there is no constriction in the back part of the mouth (= velar) as in the English sound, so an English speaking person might miss this sound altogether. Possible candidates could be £ucjana, Wisława, Wiesława, Wojsława, ... The name you are looking for might be a diminutive – take the first or penultimate syllable and add the diminutive endings -sia, -śka, -sienka and you might get names like Wisia, Wiśka, Wisienka (or Wiesia, Wieśka, Wiesienka / Wojsia, Wojśka, Wojsienka / etc.). strzyga mentioned Joanna (Asia, Aśka) and Małgorzata (Gosia, Gośka). Then sometimes the final consonants get dropped, for example Urszula, which according to the above rule should be shortened to Ursia, is in fact shortened to Usia and Uśka. Thus your 'Oshkan' might have shortened her name from any name starting with an O (if you got the 'o' correctly). Btw: -si- (used before a vowel) and -ś- (before a consonant) are both palatalized versions of the -s- and to an English ear they sound like English -sh- (to get the sound really correct, place your tongue in the position to pronounce English consonantal -y- (as in 'yellow') and then without moving your tongue say -sh-). As for the final -n: As Wulkan said, Polish female names end in -a, so either you got the -n right, in which case the person in question might be female, but the name definitely wouldn't be, or you misheard the name and it either was 'OSH-ka' or 'osh-KA-na' – Polish words are stressed on the penultimate (second to last) syllable, which gives you a clue as to which version might be the correct one. (Is it possible that one might take the diminutive 'Uśka' and by adding the female suffix -ana turn it into a full name again – 'Uśkana'? I have no idea.) If you want to search around yourself, you'll find a long (but by no means comprehensive) list of Polish names under www .styl.pl/mama/ksiega-imion
Sorry: "... in which case the person in question might be female, but the name definitely wouldn't be ..." should read "... in which case the person in question might be Polish, but the name definitely wouldn't be ..."
