diff --git a/python/pyspark/sql/dataframe.py b/python/pyspark/sql/dataframe.py
index d473d6b53464..db8c6cd41a8f 100644
--- a/python/pyspark/sql/dataframe.py
+++ b/python/pyspark/sql/dataframe.py
@@ -1162,7 +1162,7 @@ def replace(self, to_replace, value, subset=None):
             self._jdf.na().replace(self._jseq(subset), self._jmap(rep_dict)), self.sql_ctx)
 
     @since(2.0)
-    def approxQuantile(self, col, probabilities, relativeError):
+    def approxQuantile(self, cols, probabilities, relativeError):
         """
         Calculates the approximate quantiles of a numerical column of a
         DataFrame.
@@ -1181,18 +1181,28 @@ def approxQuantile(self, col, probabilities, relativeError):
         Space-efficient Online Computation of Quantile Summaries]]
         by Greenwald and Khanna.
 
-        :param col: the name of the numerical column
+        :param cols: str, list.
+            Can be a single column name, or a list of names for multiple columns.
         :param probabilities: a list of quantile probabilities
-          Each number must belong to [0, 1].
-          For example 0 is the minimum, 0.5 is the median, 1 is the maximum.
-        :param relativeError:  The relative target precision to achieve
-          (>= 0). If set to zero, the exact quantiles are computed, which
-          could be very expensive. Note that values greater than 1 are
-          accepted but give the same result as 1.
-        :return:  the approximate quantiles at the given probabilities
-        """
-        if not isinstance(col, str):
-            raise ValueError("col should be a string.")
+            Each number must belong to [0, 1].
+            For example 0 is the minimum, 0.5 is the median, 1 is the maximum.
+        :param relativeError: The relative target precision to achieve
+            (>= 0). If set to zero, the exact quantiles are computed, which
+            could be very expensive. Note that values greater than 1 are
+            accepted but give the same result as 1.
+        :return: the approximate quantiles at the given probabilities for
+            the given column or columns.
+        """
+        if not isinstance(cols, (str, list, tuple)):
+            raise ValueError("col should be a string, list or tuple.")
+
+        if isinstance(cols, tuple):
+            cols = list(cols)
+        if isinstance(cols, list):
+            for c in cols:
+                if not isinstance(c, str):
+                    raise ValueError("column name should be string.")
+            cols = _to_list(self._sc, cols)
 
         if not isinstance(probabilities, (list, tuple)):
             raise ValueError("probabilities should be a list or tuple")
@@ -1207,8 +1217,12 @@ def approxQuantile(self, col, probabilities, relativeError):
             raise ValueError("relativeError should be numerical (float, int, long) >= 0.")
         relativeError = float(relativeError)
 
-        jaq = self._jdf.stat().approxQuantile(col, probabilities, relativeError)
-        return list(jaq)
+        jaq = self._jdf.stat().approxQuantile(cols, probabilities, relativeError)
+        jaq = list(jaq)
+        for idx, a in enumerate(jaq):
+            if not isinstance(a, (list, float)):
+                jaq[idx] = list(a)
+        return jaq
 
     @since(1.4)
     def corr(self, col1, col2, method=None):
@@ -1440,8 +1454,8 @@ class DataFrameStatFunctions(object):
     def __init__(self, df):
         self.df = df
 
-    def approxQuantile(self, col, probabilities, relativeError):
-        return self.df.approxQuantile(col, probabilities, relativeError)
+    def approxQuantile(self, cols, probabilities, relativeError):
+        return self.df.approxQuantile(cols, probabilities, relativeError)
 
     approxQuantile.__doc__ = DataFrame.approxQuantile.__doc__
 
diff --git a/python/pyspark/sql/tests.py b/python/pyspark/sql/tests.py
index e4f79c911c0d..5f8fa42deb34 100644
--- a/python/pyspark/sql/tests.py
+++ b/python/pyspark/sql/tests.py
@@ -702,6 +702,15 @@ def test_approxQuantile(self):
         self.assertEqual(len(aq), 3)
         self.assertTrue(all(isinstance(q, float) for q in aq))
 
+        aqs = df.stat.approxQuantile(["a", "a"], [0.1, 0.5, 0.9], 0.1)
+        self.assertEqual(len(aqs), 2)
+        self.assertTrue(isinstance(aqs[0], list))
+        self.assertEqual(len(aqs[0]), 3)
+        self.assertTrue(all(isinstance(q, float) for q in aqs[0]))
+        self.assertTrue(isinstance(aqs[1], list))
+        self.assertEqual(len(aqs[1]), 3)
+        self.assertTrue(all(isinstance(q, float) for q in aqs[1]))
+
     def test_corr(self):
         import math
         df = self.sc.parallelize([Row(a=i, b=math.sqrt(i)) for i in range(10)]).toDF()
diff --git a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/DataFrameStatFunctions.scala b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/DataFrameStatFunctions.scala
index 3eb1f0f0d58f..0c2ecb2bb2dd 100644
--- a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/DataFrameStatFunctions.scala
+++ b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/DataFrameStatFunctions.scala
@@ -52,14 +52,14 @@ final class DataFrameStatFunctions private[sql](df: DataFrame) {
    * The algorithm was first present in [[http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/375663.375670 Space-efficient
    * Online Computation of Quantile Summaries]] by Greenwald and Khanna.
    *
-   * @param col the name of the numerical column
+   * @param col the name of the numerical column.
    * @param probabilities a list of quantile probabilities
    *   Each number must belong to [0, 1].
    *   For example 0 is the minimum, 0.5 is the median, 1 is the maximum.
    * @param relativeError The relative target precision to achieve (>= 0).
    *   If set to zero, the exact quantiles are computed, which could be very expensive.
    *   Note that values greater than 1 are accepted but give the same result as 1.
-   * @return the approximate quantiles at the given probabilities
+   * @return the approximate quantiles at the given probabilities.
    *
    * @since 2.0.0
    */
@@ -70,6 +70,29 @@ final class DataFrameStatFunctions private[sql](df: DataFrame) {
     StatFunctions.multipleApproxQuantiles(df, Seq(col), probabilities, relativeError).head.toArray
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Calculates the approximate quantiles of numerical columns of a DataFrame.
+   * @see #approxQuantile(String, Array[Double], Double) for detailed description.
+   *
+   * @param cols the names of the numerical columns.
+   * @param probabilities a list of quantile probabilities
+   *   Each number must belong to [0, 1].
+   *   For example 0 is the minimum, 0.5 is the median, 1 is the maximum.
+   * @param relativeError The relative target precision to achieve (>= 0).
+   *   If set to zero, the exact quantiles are computed, which could be very expensive.
+   *   Note that values greater than 1 are accepted but give the same result as 1.
+   * @return the approximate quantiles at the given probabilities for given columns.
+   *
+   * @since 2.0.0
+   */
+  def approxQuantile(
+      cols: Array[String],
+      probabilities: Array[Double],
+      relativeError: Double): Array[Array[Double]] = {
+    StatFunctions.multipleApproxQuantiles(df, cols, probabilities, relativeError)
+      .map(_.toArray).toArray
+  }
+
   /**
    * Python-friendly version of [[approxQuantile()]]
    */
@@ -80,6 +103,18 @@ final class DataFrameStatFunctions private[sql](df: DataFrame) {
     approxQuantile(col, probabilities.toArray, relativeError).toList.asJava
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Python-friendly version of [[approxQuantile()]] that computes approximate quantiles
+   * for multiple columns.
+   */
+  private[spark] def approxQuantile(
+      cols: List[String],
+      probabilities: List[Double],
+      relativeError: Double): java.util.List[java.util.List[Double]] = {
+    approxQuantile(cols.toArray, probabilities.toArray, relativeError)
+      .map(_.toList.asJava).toList.asJava
+  }
+
   /**
    * Calculate the sample covariance of two numerical columns of a DataFrame.
    * @param col1 the name of the first column
diff --git a/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/DataFrameStatSuite.scala b/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/DataFrameStatSuite.scala
index 0ea7727e4502..657de10c7b18 100644
--- a/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/DataFrameStatSuite.scala
+++ b/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/DataFrameStatSuite.scala
@@ -149,6 +149,15 @@ class DataFrameStatSuite extends QueryTest with SharedSQLContext {
       assert(math.abs(s2 - q2 * n) < error_single)
       assert(math.abs(d1 - 2 * q1 * n) < error_double)
       assert(math.abs(d2 - 2 * q2 * n) < error_double)
+
+      // Multiple columns
+      val Array(Array(ms1, ms2), Array(md1, md2)) =
+        df.stat.approxQuantile(Array("singles", "doubles"), Array(q1, q2), epsilon)
+
+      assert(math.abs(ms1 - q1 * n) < error_single)
+      assert(math.abs(ms2 - q2 * n) < error_single)
+      assert(math.abs(md1 - 2 * q1 * n) < error_double)
+      assert(math.abs(md2 - 2 * q2 * n) < error_double)
     }
   }