You are correct that 'real' means royal but it also means true or authentic (similarly in English). I think that probably more accurately describes their inten

You are correct that 'real' means royal but it also means true or authentic (similarly in English). I think that probably more accurately describes their intention behind the meaning of the name. When I lived in Brazil in the 1990's, shortly after the currency changed from Cruzeiros to reais, the exchange rate was around 1.5. Today, it's 1.69 - there have been some relatively mild fluctuations since then but it has stayed remarkably stable.