As typical Filipino, Rizal was a product of the mixture of races. In his veins flowed the blood of both East and West. Predominantly, he was a Malayan and was a magnificent specimen of Asian manhood. Rizal's great-great grandfather on his father side was Domingo Lameo, a Chinese immigrant from the Fukien city of Changchow, who arrived in Manila in about 1690. He became a Christian , married a well-to-do Chinese Christian Girl of Manila named Ines de la Rosa, and assumed in 1731 the surname Mercado, which was appropriate for him because he was a merchant. The Spanish term mercado means "market" in English. Domingo Mercado and Ines de la Rosa had a son, Francisco Mercado, who resided in Biñan, married a Chinese-Filipino mestiza, Cirila Bernacha, and was elected gobernadorcillo of the town. One their sons, Juan Mercado, Rizal's grandfather, married Cirila Alejandro, a Chinese-Filipino mestiza. Like his father, he was elected gobernadorcillo of Biñan. Capitan Juan and Capitana Cirila had thirteen children, the youngest being Francisco Mercado, Rizal's Father.

At the age of eight, Francisco Mercado lost his father and grew up to manhood under the care of his mother. He studied Latin and Philosophy in the College of San Jose in Manila. While studying in Manila, He met and fell in love with Teodora Alonso Realonda, a Student in the College of Santa Rosa. They were married on June 28, 1848. After which they settle down in Calamba, where they engaged in farming and business and reared a big family.

It is said that Doña Teodora's family descended from Lakandula, the last native king Tondo. Her great-grandfather, Rizal's maternal great-great-grandfather, Eugenio Ursua (of Japanese ancestry), who married a Filipina named Benigna (surname unknown). Their daughter, Regina, married Manuel de Quintos, Filipino-Chinese lawyer from Pangasinan. One of the daughters of Atty. Quintos and Regina was Brigida, who married Lorenzo Alberto Alonso, a prominent Spanish-Filipino mestizo of Biñan. Their children were Narcisa, Teodora (Rizal's mother), Gregorio, Manuel, and Jose.