Here is an example with {NiceTabular} of nicematrix with a row by row color gradient (you need several compilations).
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{nicematrix}
\begin{document}
\begin{NiceTabular}{c}
\CodeBefore
\definecolorseries{BlueWhite}{rgb}{last}{blue}{white}
\resetcolorseries[\value{iRow}]{BlueWhite}
\rowlistcolors{1}{BlueWhite!!+}
\Body
Mathilde \
Pierre \
Paul \
Amélie \
Jacques \
Antoine \
Stéphanie \
\end{NiceTabular}
\end{document}

Here is an example with a continuous gradient (Tikz must be loaded).
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{nicematrix,tikz}
\begin{document}
\begin{NiceTabular}{c}[color-inside]
\Block[tikz = {top color=blue, bottom color=white}]{-}{}
Mathilde \
Pierre \
Paul \
Amélie \
Jacques \
Antoine \
Stéphanie \
\end{NiceTabular}
\end{document}

In both cases, the instructions automatically take into account the number of row and columns of the tabular.