'the real origin' is correct and usable in written English.
You can use this phrase when you are referencing to the actual source of something, particularly if you are contrasting it with false information or assumptions. For example, "Despite what many people think, the real origin of the phrase 'An apple a day keeps the doctor away' is actually unknown."
"The real origin is unknown, but Parnell is involved.
"People associate that with Chuck Colson, but the real origin goes back to President Johnson," Mr. Winston said.
JULY: The real origin of this project was the e-mails I exchanged with my friend Sheila Heti, who is one of the participants in the project.
It was not until the fourth century that the Church decided that December 25th would be the date to celebrate, and the real origin of this move was an act of what is now called "cultural appropriation".
For example, the servers that carried out many of the attacks were based in Taiwan, though a Google executive said "it only took a few seconds to determine that the real origin was on the mainland".
The real origin of the Young Turk Revolution of 1908 lay in the discontent within the Third Army Corps in Macedonia, where officers acted independently of the CUP in Paris.
The real origins of modern glass were in Alexandria during the Ptolemaic period and, later, in ancient Rome.
The New York Times Learning Network hosts a smorgasbord of resources and the Guardian Teacher Network also has myriad lessons plans including this general introduction, with specific lessons on the arms race, "containing" communism, the "real" origins of the cold war and its eventual end.
If we are looking for the real origins of the modern world, then, we have to look for the moment when that world was literally disoriented — stripped of its sense of direction.
But the real origins of the opera go back to an extraordinary exhibition of Schwitters' work, which I stumbled on while roaming around Dusseldorf before a concert in January 2001.
The real origins of his venture lie elsewhere, in his ambition, his belief that he could get away with his unilateral changes, and that when it came to the crunch, the Chinese government would back down.
