"Real" is only used in Spanish football. It means 'Royal' and is an honourific granted by the King. Real Madrid, for instance, was just Madrid until about 1915.
Edit: My mistake, it was 1920
(edited by canucklover on 18.9.03 0856) "...Don't the sun look angry through the trees? Don't the trees look like crucified thieves?" --Warren Zevon, Desperadoes Under the Eaves