Hi @ivo 
try the following and see if it gets you where you want
names default to here (1);
dt = Open( "$SAMPLE_DATA/Big Class.jmp" );
dt:name <<
	Set Property(
		"Value Colors",
		{"ALFRED" = -13912408, "ALICE" = -4042310, "AMY" = -4354269, "BARBARA" = -13400361, "CAROL" = -2668175, "CHRIS" = -10628061, "CLAY" =
		-12893483, "DANNY" = -2600622, "DAVID" = -12921289, "EDWARD" = -9351208, "ELIZABETH" = -2661054, "FREDERICK" = -13576604, "HENRY" = -9282864,
		"JACLYN" = -6995852, "JAMES" = -1524612, "JANE" = -9458080, "JEFFREY" = -14452073, "JOE" = -6391856, "JOHN" = -2745505, "JUDY" = -10199751,
		"KATIE" = -7150697, "KIRK" = -10513726, "LAWRENCE" = -8381519, "LESLIE" = -3502441, "LEWIS" = -3615440, "LILLIE" = -13925307, "LINDA" =
		-11502354, "LOUISE" = -7449196, "MARION" = -9229791, "MARK" = -4074344, "MARTHA" = -13050224, "MARY" = -12565885, "MICHAEL" = -2068529,
		"PATTY" = -4494272, "PHILLIP" = -11824110, "ROBERT" = -8734293, "SUSAN" = -13849421, "TIM" = -13294235, "WILLIAM" = -1078076}
	)
	<< 	Color Cell by Value;
	
generally, i would suggest setting the colors once manually from the menu. then, you can export the script of the column using this nifty add in
Copy-Script-For-Selected-Column-s-to-Clipboard 
let us know if it works
ron