Caitlyn Jenner just received a judge's approval to officially change her name and gender. By law, she is Caitlyn Marie Jenner. TMZ reported earlier this month that Jenner filed legal paperwork to change her name and gender but withheld certain personal details out of fear for her safety.

It's been quite a year for Caitlyn Jenner, who was born William Bruce Jenner. In April, she confirmed her plans to transition during an interview with ABC News' Diane Sawyer. Following the interview she made her world debut on the cover of Vanity Fair, landed an "E" reality show titled "I Am Cait," and received the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the 2015 ESPYs.

Why Jenner's official name change is significant.

Jenner struggled for more than six decades when the world knew her as Bruce, so her steps towards growth and progress have helped her embrace her true self after many years living uncomfortably.

"For all intents and purposes, I am a woman," Jenner, known as Bruce at the time, told Sawyer during her April interview. "People look at me differently. They see you as this macho male, but my heart and my soul and everything that I do in life it is part of me—that female side is part of me. That's who I am."

Jenner also revealed she'd contemplated suicide as a result of her identity issues. (Suicide rates in the LGBT community are startlingly high.)

"I was walking up and down [my] hall back and forth all night long," Jenner said. "Heart pounding. I thought, 'Wouldn't the easiest thing to do right now is go in the other room, get a gun. Pain is over. Done. Go to a better place.'"

Jenner ultimately decided to live her truth, and after appearing on Vanity Fair's July cover, she wrote on Twitter that she was elated to finally embrace her real identity:

Here's how people reacted to the news of Jenner's offical name change on social media: