Another idea to throw in the pot is the Library of Congress Name Authority File (http://authorities.loc.gov).  The LoC people have a huge amount of experience with this sort of thing, and formal procedures for making decisions about names, etc.  It's all very professionalized.  E.g., Keshub Chunder Sen (the MARC 100 field is the approved heading, the 400s are variants that are found in various places).

​DW​