“The blessing actually includes very traditional language,” said Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum, the congregation’s spiritual leader. “It talks about ‘guf’ and ‘nefesh,’ which are very Jewish concepts of body and soul, and uniting them.” The benediction, written by Cantor David Berger and Rabbi Ayelet Cohen in 2007, also encourages the person to “succeed in his or her way.”

Rabbi Kleinbaum added that her synagogue typically holds two to three renaming ceremonies a year. “It’s still a cutting-edge thing,” she said, “but I can’t tell you how many emails we get every year, some from other rabbis, asking for a trans-renaming ceremony blessing.”

Renaming ceremonies are held at different stages of the transitioning process.

Ms. Jenner, for example, held her ceremony about two months before she filed a petition to legally change her name from Bruce. Both Ms. King and Ms. Trachtenberg held their renaming ceremonies after they had changed their names legally.

Ceremonies also take place at a variety of locations. Some, like Ms. Jenner’s, are held at home. Others are held in churches, synagogues or even independent event spaces.

In 2013, about 10 months after she legally changed her name, Constance McEntee, 46, rented a room at the Women’s Building in San Francisco for a Wiccan renaming. “It happened where I could afford to rent a room with a door that could be closed,” Ms. McEntee said. During the ceremony, she was wrapped in blankets to simulate a grave, and a eulogy was delivered for David, her birth name. Afterward, there were cookies for the celebrants.