Family Society
The idea of establishing the Henttonen family association arose at the wedding of Marjatta Kärkäs's daughter in Turku in 1983. Marjatta Kärkäs was born in Jääski, and she commissioned a study of her family branch. The following summer, she invited a host of relatives to her summer residence in Mikkeli; it was the first meeting of the family. Several members of this family branch live in Oulu, which is why a more formal family association founding meeting was held there in the summer of 1985.
Family origin
The branches of the Henttonen family are originally from the Karelian Isthmus and South Karelia, namely Antrea, Jääski, Vpl (the Vyborg Province) Pyhäjärvi, Sakkola, Kirvu and Ruokolahti. All these locations were inhabited by Henttonens in the 18th century or earlier. At the same time, Henttonens also lived in Johannes and the Vyborg parish, but these branches may have disappeared under the name of Henttonen.
The earliest Henttonens found in the documents resided in Henttola of Jääski, later part of Antrea. See HISTORY for more information.
Purpose of the family association
The purpose of the family association is to study the stages and history of the family, to preserve family traditions and to promote a sense of community among its members.
Operation of the family association
The family association has commissioned a family book that was completed in summer 2012.
The family association has a family reunion in even-numbered years during the summer. Family venues have been as follows: Mikkeli 1984, Oulunsalo 1985, Iitti 1986, Eura 1988, Aulanko 1990, Ristiina 1992, Hollola 1994, Hämeenlinna 1996, Oulu 1998, Imatra 2000, cruise 2002, Turku 2004, Tampere 2006, Kouvola 2008, Helsinki 2010, Aulanko 2012, Oulu 2014, Sammatti 2016, Espoo 2018. The biggest success was the Imatra reunion with about 160 participants, even from Australia. In connection with the meeting, a bus trip was made to the home regions of Antrea and Jääski families.
Pictures of the family meetings can be found here:
For information about the next Henttonen family association trip, see the NEWS pages. In principle, the responsibility for organizing a family meeting rotates among various family branches. Every three times those in charge are Jääski families, every three times Antrea families and every three times the representatives of the other families.
Emblem of the Henttonen family association
The family association is registered under number 670 in the coat of arms register of the Finnish Heraldry Society.
The emblem was designed by the heraldist Jukka Suvisaari based on the idea of Antti Henttonen, opetusneuvos (Finnish honourary title, Counsellor of Education). Four golden horseshoes are placed like Saint Andrew's cross, and they resemble farmer and Hakkapeliitta-Henttonens. The wavy silver log of the emblem refers to Vuoksi river. The flag has been nailed and blessed at the Karelian summer party in Hämeenlinna in 1996.
The family association as numbers
The exact numbers of the family association members is unknown, as the membership fee is family specific, and there may be one or more members in the family.
If you'd like to join the family society, please see CONTACTS.
According to the Population Register Center, in May 2017, Henttonen was the current name of
- 483 men and 500 women, a total of 983 people in Finland
- 47 non-residents (only those with a Finnish national identification number)
- ie. a total of 1050 people.
In May 2017, Henttonen was a former surname of
- 346 persons resident in Finland and
- 25 non-residents (only those with a Finnish national identification number)
- ie. 371 people in total.